Top 10 most polluted cities in India: Delhi ranks top with 388 AQI. Where does your city stand?

Air pollution news: Major Northern Indian cities have been battling with poor air pollution with toxic haze blanketing the cities. In the list of the top 10 most polluted cities in India, Delhi currently ranks top, followed by cities from Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

According to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data of 244 cities on 1 December, 22 cities registered ‘very poor’ air quality above 300 while 34 Indian cities registered ‘poor’ air quality above 200.

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According to the CPCB data, Delhi recorded the worst air quality with an overall AQI of 388 while three Rajasthan cities namely Bikaner, Bhiwadi and Hanumangarh took the second, third and fourth spots with AQI registering at 377, 362 and 360 respectively. In Uttar Pradesh, Noida became the fifth most polluted city in the country with an overall air quality index of 358, followed by 356 in Greater Noida, and 355 in Meerut.

Rajgir and Arrah cities in Bihar ranked at the eighth and ninth spot with AQI registering at 345 and 342 respectively while Haryana's Manesar took the 10th spot with AQI recording at 339.

As per CPCB data, in Delhi, many cities are currently witnessing ‘severe’ category air quality i.e. above 400. Areas like Alipur, Aya Nagar, Rohini recorded AQI at 410 while Dwarka Sector-8, RK Puram recorded 401 AQI. AQI in Jahangirpuri stood at 407, 415 in Punjab Bagh, while 427 in Wazirpur.

In the most polluted cities data, other areas which recorded AQI above 300 included: Begusarai with 308, 327 in Ghaziabad, 319 in Gurugram, 317 in Meghalaya's Byrnihat, 319 in Faridabad, 329 in UP's Hapur, 305 in Patna and 333 in Bihar's Motihari.

Top 10 polluted cities in India

1. Delhi: 388

2. Bikaner: 377

3. Bhiwadi: 362

4. Hanumangarh: 360

5. Noida: 358

6. Greater Noida: 356

7. Meerut 355

8. Rajgir: 345

9. Arrah: 342

10. Manesar: 339

Meanwhile, earlier on Thursday, the Commission for Air Quality Management said that the unfavourable meteorological conditions and peak of paddy harvesting activity during Diwali led to the deterioration of air quality in Delhi in November, as reported by news agency PTI. 

According to its data, the November month average AQI was observed at 373 this year, while it was 380 in 2021 and 374 in 2016. There were nine days in the month when the air quality was in "severe" category. It was "very poor" for 17 days and "poor" for four days. The air quality levels are greatly impacted by the levels of rainfall/precipitation, direction of wind and its speed, which are prime facilitators for dispersal of the pollutants/emissions, it said.

The daily average air quality in Delhi for the 11-month period between January to November this year registered its best index as compared to the corresponding period during the last six years, barring the Covid-affected 2020, the CAQM stated. The daily average AQI for Delhi during the above noted period in 2023 has been recorded as 190 against 199 in 2022, 196 in 2021, 172 in 2020, 203 in 2019 and 213 in 2018 respectively, it stated.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.

(With inputs from PTI)